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CLAREMONT - Part One: 1906 to 1941
Affiliated: 2nd Rate Junior Football Association/WAFA 1906-20; 2nd Rate Junior Football Association/WAFA 1906-20; WANFL/WAFL/WASFL/Westar Rules 1921-present ('B' grade only 1921-25)
Club Address: P.O. Box 59, Claremont 6910, Western Australia
Home Ground: Claremont Oval
Formed: 1906
Colours: Navy blue and gold
Emblem: Tigers
Premierships: WAFA - 1907-8-9-10 (4 total); WAFL - SENIORS 1938-39-40, 1964, 1981, 1987, 1989, 1991, 1993, 1996 (10 total) RESERVES (from 1925) 1937, 1977, 1980, 1982, 1987, 1990, 2000 (7 total) COLTS (from 1957) 1976-7-8-9, 1986, 1988, 1993-4-5-6-7 (11 total) OTHER PREMIERSHIPS - 2nd Rate Junior Football Association - 1906 (1 total); R.P. Rodriguez Shield: 1972, 1979, 1981-2, 1987-88-89-90-1, 1993-4 (11 total)
Sandover Medallists: K.Hough 1932; S.Clarke 1933 & 1934; G.Moloney 1936; G.Maffina 1949; J.Parkinson 1967; S.Malaxos 1984#; M.Mitchell 1984#; J.Crabb 2005; A.Jones 2007 (9 Medallists/10 Medals)
Tassie Medallists: Les McClements 1947 (1 total)
All Australians: John McIntosh 1966 & 1969; Ken Hunter 1979 & 1980; Steve Malaxos 1986; Michael Mitchell 1985 & 1986 (7 total)
League Top Goalkickers: G.Moloney (129) 1940; R.Farmer (97) 1943; N.Uncle (91) 1976; W.Ralph (127) 1981, (115) 1982 & (128) 1983; J.Hutton (100) 1991; P.Medhurst (78) 2001 (8 total)
Highest Score: 39.20 (254) vs. Perth at Claremont Oval in round 17 1981
Most Games: 274 by Darrell Panizza from 1979 to 1995
Record Home Attendance: 18,268 vs. South Fremantle in round 7 1983
Record Finals Attendance: 50,883 for 1982 grand final at Subiaco Oval: Swan Districts 18.19 (127); Claremont 11.12 (78)
Overall Success Rate 1926-2007: 48.0%
# indicates tied for the Medal
* indicates achieved during the wartime under-age competition which ran from 1942 to 1944
For much of its history, if Dave Warner is to be believed, "Claremont's supporters would arrive at the outer of other clubs, erect their deckchairs and then complain when other fans stood in front. Prior to the 1980s Claremont were cream-puff, card-carrying nancy boys, but that has all changed and nowadays Claremont are rarely seen down the puce end of town"(see footnote 1).
This quasi-mythological view of Claremont as ineffectual weaklings might arguably be said, in part, to have a geographical basis: the suburb of Claremont is one of the most tranquil and outwardly genteel in Perth. Moreover, Claremont was, in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, one of very few genuine soccer strongholds in the colony/state of Western Australia, so that many of the young men of the district were, from an early age, presumably encouraged to believe that sporting success could be achieved by deliberately kicking one's opponents or, if that failed, or indeed if one was the apparent victim of such behaviour, by convincingly feigning injury. Whatever the reason for the 'cream-puff' theory, the fact that it was essentially mythological in nature needs to be stressed. Premiership pennants in elite Australian football competitions such as the Western Australian Football League quite simply do not end up in the possession of ineffectual weaklings, and Claremont produced a number of flag-winning combinations well before the 1980s.
The earliest recorded mention of a Claremont Football Club came in 1897, but no detail of the club's activity survives. As for the origins of today's club, one needs to go back to 1906 when a group of men living in the Cottesloe-Claremont district formulated a desire to play competitive football during the winter months. The result of this aspiration was the establishment of the Cottesloe Beach Football Club, which was almost immediately admitted to the Perth metropolitan area's third tier of organised football, the Second Rate Junior Football Association (the term 'junior' meaning 'of lower standing than senior', rather than implying anything about the participants' ages).
After taking several weeks to find its feet the new team improved steadily, eventually finishing in 4th place at the conclusion of the minor round, with 7 wins and 7 losses, before - presumably to the surprise of almost everyone - improving still further to go on to secure the flag. Promotion to the Western Australian Football Association followed and over the course of the next four seasons Cottesloe Beach established itself as probably the best team in Western Australia outside of league ranks (see footnote 2). Indeed, a case could be made out for it being a bona fide league standard club, for not only did it win four consecutive WAFA premierships from 1907-1910, in 1908 it comprehensively overcame WAFL wooden spooners Subiaco in a pre-season challenge match. Despite this, admission to the top flight was not forthcoming, and in the years leading up to the outbreak of the first world war on field fortunes declined.
| Along with the majority of other sporting clubs in Western Australia Cottesloe Beach Football Club went into voluntary recess for most of the war years. After the war, the continued popularity of soccer in the district was a key factor in limiting the club's development, not to mention its on field success. Despite this, there remained a solid groundswell of passion for the sport of Australian football in Claremont, not all of it directly associated with the Cottesloe Beach Football Club. Indeed, the primary impetus which eventually led to the admission to the WAFL of a side based in the Claremont-Cottesloe region, and comprised almost entirely of Cottesloe Beach footballers, came from outside the club. As the 1919 football season drew to a close a group of local football supporters not connected with the Cottesloe Beach organisation sought, and received, permission from the WAFL to attend a meeting to consider whether or not the admission of a seventh league club, based in the Claremont-Cottesloe district, was both desirable and feasible. The main 'carrot' which the group dangled before the league was that it claimed to have procured the use of the Claremont Showgrounds as a home ground for its team. The Claremont Showgrounds was, by the standards of the time, a high quality venue which would have enhanced the WAFL's status as Western Australia's primary sporting organisation. The only thing the consortium needed in order to obtain WAFL approval was a team. |
'Sammy' Clarke |
Given the situation, a merger between the Claremont-Cottesloe consortium (the club without a team) and Cottesloe Beach Football Club (the team devoid of political influence) seemed the logical way forward, and so it proved. In 1921 this newly merged entity, known as the Claremont-Cottesloe Football Club, and boasting the same blue and gold colours as the local swimming club, was admitted to the WAFL 'B' grade where it was intended that it should serve a brief probation in order to build up its strength as well as have its viability assessed. However, the club found it hard to develop its strength for the simple and obvious reason that few players of real talent were content to play seconds football for Claremont-Cottesloe when they could be embarking on league careers elsewhere. Consequently, the club's probationary period kept being extended. It was not until 1925, after the WAFL had been re-organised along district lines, that Claremont-Cottesloe was finally given permission to participate in 'A' grade from the following year, presumably in order to ensure that its sizeable catchment area had a discernible and active league presence.
Coached by former South Fremantle and Richmond player Norm McIntosh (the only player with previous senior league experience in the side) Claremont-Cottesloe Football Club made its senior bows against East Perth in 1926. Not surprisingly, given that the Royals were one of the strongest teams in Australia at the time, a substantial defeat was sustained, and this set the pattern for most of the fledgling club's debut season. Claremont-Cottesloe's only win in that debut season came against South Fremantle at Fremantle when the margin was the narrowest possible.
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Early Claremont-Cottesloe champion George Moloney. |
Between 1926 and 1935 the 'babies', as they were often,
somewhat patronisingly described, won just 40 and drew 2 of 183 games for an overall
success rate
of 22.4%. The nearest they came to qualifying for the finals
was in 1929 when, with 8 wins and 10 defeats, they finished just 4 points plus
percentage behind 4th placed Subiaco. Even when Swan Districts was
admitted to the competition in 1934 Claremont-Cottesloe continued to
underachieve, ending up with the wooden spoon for the 7th time in 9
seasons. The club was close to being a laughing stock.
That said, there had been a number of high points, mainly relating to individual performances. Between 1932 and 1934 the club had provided a notable hat trick of Sandover Medallists in the shape of Keith Hough (1932) and Sidney (usually referred to as 'Sammy') Clarke (1933-4). Hough was a half back whose rebounding style was arguably ahead of its time, while Clarke was a slightly built former champion junior footballer who possessed abundant skill and excelled as an aerialist. Perhaps even more noteworthy than both, however, was George Michael Moloney, who during a 278 game league career with Claremont(-Cottesloe) and Geelong proved to be equally adept as a goalsneak and a centreman, a truly rare combination. Sandover Medallist in 1936 Moloney topped the league goalkicking in two states and was best and fairest at Geelong in 1932 and Claremont in 1936 and 1938. Despite his comparatively small stature (174cm and 72.5kg) Moloney was an excellent high mark and this, combined with his pace, elusiveness and uncanny ability to kick goals from all kinds of seemingly impossible angles and positions made him a genuine champion in one of the game's true golden eras. |
During Moloney's first stint at Claremont (1926-30) the club was perennially unsuccessful but by the time of his return in 1936 things were at last beginning to improve. In 1935 the club officially dropped the 'Cottesloe' from its name, becoming simply 'Claremont', and although it would be difficult to argue persuasively that this particular change, in and of itself, produced an improvement in on field fortunes, what cannot be debated is that it did in fact coincide with such an improvement. As for the reasons, George Moloney's return home in 1936 was undoubtedly a significant factor, his five seasons with Geelong in Australian football's 'big league' having quite obviously taught him much, a fact he immediately emphasised by winning the Sandover Medal.
Claremont enjoyed its best WANFL season to date in 1936, winning 12 and losing 8 of its home and away matches to qualify for the finals in 2nd place. A 5 point 2nd semi final defeat of minor premier East Fremantle then earned the Monts premiership favouritism, a state of affairs which intensified still further when it was learned that their grand final opponents would not be Old Easts, but the previously unheralded East Perth, which had finished the minor round in 4th place, but had surprisingly overturned the blue and whites in the preliminary final by a solitary point.
The 1936 WANFL grand final attracted 20,874 spectators to Subiaco Oval, the majority of whom would doubtless have been extremely disappointed to witness the Royals eking out a scratchy 11.5 (71) to 9.6 (60) victory. However, if Claremont had not exactly 'arrived' as a premiership winning combination they had at least, and at last, earned the respect of the rest of the Western Australian football community.
Claremont again finished runners-up a year later after raising hopes, first by finishing the home and away rounds with a 13-5-1 record to qualify for the finals as minor premiers, and then by overcoming East Fremantle in the 2nd semi final by 14 points. However, when the stakes were raised a fortnight later against the same opponent the Monts were found lacking, eventually going under by 10 points.
The Claremont hierarchy reacted to this disappointment with surprising ruthlessness and incisive, proactive determination, dismissing coach Dick Lawn and, when applications of sufficiently high quality were not forthcoming, actively - and ultimately successfully - pursuing the individual they regarded as the most appropriate replacement, John Leonard. Clearly it was believed that the team had come as far as it could under Lawn and that a fresh approach was needed if the players were to take that all important, often elusive 'final step'.
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ABOVE: John Leonard (centre), pictured in 1993 with the then Claremont coach Gerard Neesham (left) and captain Darrell Panizza. The trio are holding the newly inaugurated John Leonard Trophy for which the Claremont and Subiaco Football Clubs compete each year. |
Johnny Leonard, a former Sandover Medallist (and later to be awarded another retrospectively), had already coached successfully at Ballarat, Geelong and West Perth. If it can ever truly be said that the arrival at an organisation of a single person represents the 'final piece of the jig-saw', then this, arguably, was it. Almost from the outset, Leonard seemed to imbue his players with an elevated steeliness, fortitude and mental rigour. After comfortably qualifying for the finals in 2nd place Claremont scored its by now traditional 2nd semi final victory over East Fremantle, winning this time - somewhat ominously - with comparative ease, 17.19 (121) to 13.18 (96). It looked to be well on the way to repeating the dose a fortnight later when it led the same opposition by 19 points late on only to succumb to a sudden, intense bout of stage fright and, after squandering a number of opportunities to put the result beyond doubt, allow the legendary Old East resolve to kick in and go within an ace of stealing the game. As it was, the final siren sounded with - for only the second time in WA(N)FL history - the scores deadlocked, albeit that the Monts had, overall, seemed to enjoy rather more of the play, managing 5 more scoring shots than their opponents.
It was at this point that the Claremont sides of previous seasons might conceivably have wilted. However, under Leonard the team's undoubted talent was reinforced with formidable mental toughness, a quality which, perhaps more than any other, is needed in abundance in order to transform potential into achievement. In the grand final replay East Fremantle provided stern and spirited opposition, but it was always Claremont which appeared to be in control. In the end the Monts won well by 22 points, 14.17 (111) to 11.13 (79), with George Moloney, Jack Reeves, Jim Reid and Harold Lovegrove especially prominent. It was a classic case of 'third time lucky'. As far as Claremont's long suffering supporters were concerned, the ice had been broken, credibility had finally been achieved, and - dare one hope? - prolonged success was just around the corner.
The 1939 season brought another minor premiership for Claremont, but any kudos deriving from this achievement was sullied by the onset of a second global conflagration. Nevertheless, top level sport continued in Australia, at least for the time being, and large crowds attended major round senior football matches throughout the country (see footnote 3). For Claremont the 1939 major round began in quite a novel way - with a 37 point 2nd semi final loss to East Fremantle, the club's first ever finals defeat other than in a grand final. More worrying than the defeat, however, was its manner: Claremont had been out-hustled, outmaneuvered, and outplayed, a state of affairs which - potentially, at any rate - created a formidable mental barrier to be overcome by the players on the next occasion that the two sides met.
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First, though, there was a preliminary final to be won, and the fact that this was not a foregone conclusion was quickly emphasised as a resolute, determined East Perth side made all the early running. In the end, Claremont managed to edge home by a single straight kick, albeit that its players had seemingly done their utmost to kick themselves out of contention. The final scores of a tempestuous, sometimes spiteful encounter were Claremont 10.17 (77) to East Perth 11.5 (71); Australia may have been at war with Germany, but apparently this did not prevent her citizens from engaging in sometimes acrimonious physical combat with each other. The fiery nature of the preliminary final arguably provided the Claremont players with the kind of wake up call they needed. In the grand final re-match with East Fremantle - another torrid affair - the blue and golds always appeared to have their opponents' measure, finally pulling away after a closely fought first half to win by 19 points, 14.11 (95) to 11.10 (76). Half backs 'Sammy' Clarke and Bill O'Neill vied as best for the Monts. Despite, or perhaps partly because of, the war the match was watched by 19,193 spectators, the biggest grand final crowd since 1936. Claremont was now indisputably the team to beat but, in 1940, took the situation in its stride, once again heading the list going into the finals (this time with a 15-5 record). South Fremantle, however, which had proved to be the surprise packet of the home and away season, enhanced its growing reputation with a hard fought 15 point win over the Monts in a high scoring 2nd semi final, effectively winning the game in the 2nd term with a devastating burst of 9 goals to 1. From the Claremont perspective, such a dramatic lapse in concentration was highly uncharacteristic, and therefore somewhat worrying; however, at least it had the virtue of rendering the defeat explicable, and hence of giving the club's 'brains trust' a readily accessible fulcrum for improvement. |
Half back flanker supreme, Bill O'Neill. |
The preliminary final brought a comfortable 6 goal win over East Fremantle, after Claremont had trailed by a similar margin at the long break. For the grand final, war time restrictions notwithstanding, a sizeable crowd of 19,876 turned up hoping to witness another closely fought tussle. They were not disappointed. In a tense, often vigorous encounter which saw Claremont enforcer Johnny Compton - just back from a five week suspension - reported early on for striking (see footnote 4), the blue and golds were never headed and, although South Fremantle remained within striking distance for most of the game, there was an element of seeming inevitability about Claremont's eventual 17 point win.
After serving an extended apprenticeship in the big time Claremont's future now looked distinctly rosy. Its recent premiership teams had arguably been as good as any so far to grace the WANFL, and given normal conditions there is no reason to suppose that the club's dominance would not have been maintained. Sadly, the exigencies of war were making greater and greater inroads into clubs' playing resources; between 1942 and 1944 the WANFL would operate on a limited, under age only basis, and Claremont's 4th place finish in 1941 would prove to be one of only two occasions during a twenty-one year period that the side would even so much as contest the finals, let alone challenge for the flag.
Where Now
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Footnotes
1. Footy's Hall of Shame by Dave Warner, page 243. Back to Main Text
2. It should be borne in mind that, in Western Australia in the period under scrutiny, football of what might be termed 'league standard' was played in the Coolgardie-Kalgoorlie goldfields region as well as in Perth. Back to Main Text
3. Grand final crowds in both Perth and Adelaide were higher in 1939 than the previous year. Back to Main Text
4. The charge was eventually dismissed at the tribunal. Back to Main Text